


(Not) A Happily Ever After (But Damn Close Enough)

by tropic_equator



Category: Megalo Box (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 08:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tropic_equator/pseuds/tropic_equator
Summary: Joe build a new gym and then a new life. Yuri was included without a question, smoothly finding his place in the younger man’s new life.





	(Not) A Happily Ever After (But Damn Close Enough)

**Author's Note:**

> i saw an anime so beautiful, i was moved to tears

Shirato Yukiko didn’t abandon him completely because despite the cold front that she put up, she wasn’t a completely heartless woman. Yuri woke up to a brand-new wheelchair by his bedside in the hospital room, a folder containing several documents that all had his name as the owner of several properties (a car and a house, to name a few), and a bank statement that spoke of a recent wire transfer in large amount into it. 

There was no card wishing him to get well soon. No phone call or email or text message inquiring about the state of his health. The woman herself was not present even when Yuri wheeled himself out of the hospital.

But there was a scrap of paper, on it written a series of number in neat handwriting, tucked discreetly into the folders of document left on his bedside table.

_Call me when you need me._

Yuri smiled. His previous owner hadn’t abandoned him and left him to fend by himself. She cared about him in her own way.

It didn’t change the fact that he was now alone. No more owner to serve, no more corporation to represent, no one pulling his metaphorical leash anymore. It was jarring, and unsettling, he felt as if he just lost his anchor, like a ship drifting aimlessly in the vast ocean.

 _Well,_ he thought, _at least I still have a home and my dog._

 

_***_

 

Upon entering his home, it was evident that Yukiko had done some remodelling to accommodate his wheelchair. The doors were made wider and automatic, opening with a push of a button or the command of his voice. Ramps were installed. The shelves made lower so they were not out of his reach.

Shirato Yukiko really cared for him, even when she had essentially disowned him when he removed her integrated Gear.

 

The first few days were nice, relaxing even. He spent the days doing nothing, resting so his body could recover. He played with his dog and got used maneuvering his wheelchair. But by the end of the week he was restless. The house was too big, too empty, the silence deafening and the isolation suffocating. Idleness had never suited him. Yuri was used to always doing something, whether it’s training or tournaments or even doing errands for Yukiko. He wanted to do something--he _needed_ to do something or he would go crazy.

 

The next day he wheeled himself out of the house, his loyal dog on tow.

 

***

 

“You are in a wheelchair,” Joe stated when they met. 

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m--I don’t--” the curly-haired man stammered, obviously shocked at the state Yuri was in. This was the first time they met after the final of the Megalonia Tournament. Fate, it seemed, had brought Yuri to the riverbank near the slum in the edge of the city, below the bridge where the Team Nowhere had set up their headquarter.

“Save it,” Yuri cut him. “Not your fault, so don’t apologize.”

Joe opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it.

“It was a good match,” he finally said. “I’m glad to have you as my opponent. Even if it’s only for one match.”

“It was,” Yuri agreed. “I wish I could have more opportunities to fight you, Joe. But I think one match is enough. You are the real deal. No one have managed to make me feel like that in a long time.”

“To hear such words from the champion, I’m honored.”

“I am no longer the champion. You are. You have defeated me and won the tournament.”

“Yeah, but I still think of you as the champion. I bet everyone still does.”

“Enough about that. Let’s talk about the present. What are you planning to do now?”

“Well…” Joe looked at the boxing ring under the bridge. “Use the money to build a proper gym, for starter. Nanbu used to own one. I think the building is still there. Needs proper renovation but he will be more than happy to get it open again.”

He looked at Yuri. “You could join us. If you want.”

“I am retired. Even if I want to, I couldn’t box in my condition.” Yuri gestured at his wheelchair, at his legs that no longer functioned as before.

“No, no, not as a fighter.” Joe shook his head.  “As a coach. We could use someone like you as a coach.”

“A coach,” Yuri repeated. That never occurred to him before. The idea of training someone else never crossed his mind. He was always training alone with the machines that Yukiko built for him, without any human sparring partners or coaches.

“Yeah, a coach! Think about it. We could use your experience to train new fighters.” Joe was grinning. His eyes looking expectantly at Yuri.

“I will think about it.” It was an appealing idea, he would have another chance to get involved with the world of Megalo Boxing even when he couldn’t be in the ring. He doubted he would make a good coach, but he wanted this--wanted this so bad, it scared him a little.

“There’s still time before we begin rebuilding the gym. Money’s pretty tight even with my prize from the Megalonia. But think about it, yeah? And tell me when you’ve made up your mind.” Joe was smiling at him. He has a nice smile, Yuri thought, when his face wasn’t black and blue all beaten up from his opponent’s fists, when there’s no blood from his split lip or cuts in his face. It was the kind of smile that was pure, lighting up his whole face, making him seem brighter and younger, less world-weary.

 _Ah,_ Yuri thought, _maybe I am falling for him._ That thought amused him but he kept it for himself ( _for the right time),_ instead he said, “I will meet you here tomorrow, if that’s alright with you.”

“Yes! Or maybe--maybe I could go to your place. Easier for you that way,” Joe said, looking at his surrounding that surely was less than ideal for a wheelchair user. “Why don’t you give me your address.”

Yuri didn’t mind being going to the Team Nowhere headquarter to meet Joe. It’s a good exercise, for both him and his dog, training his body and walking his dog at the same time. He could use the fresh air and the exercise after spending too long time cooped up inside the hospital.

“Of course,” he said instead, and gave his address.

 

***

 

Joe acted as if he thought that he didn’t belong in Yuri’s home. He stood some distance away with his hands deep inside his pockets, elbows tucked into his sides and legs closed together instead of his usual confident shoulder-width apart stance. He looked uncomfortable, like he thought of himself as a dirty spot in the middle of Yuri’s pristine house, as if an accidental brush of his body parts against the furnitures will tarnish them.

Yuri thought Joe’s presence made the house more alive. It could use another occupant beside one man and a dog.

“Nice house,” the dark-haired male commented. “Shirato gave it to you?”

“Yes. Sit anywhere you like. Tea?”

“Thanks, I’m fine,” Joe said, but nevertheless he accepted when Yuri handed him a steaming mug.

“So, a megalo box gym,” Yuri said. He maneuvered his wheelchair so that he was facing Joe. With Joe sitting down on the sofa, they were on the same eye level.

“Yeah. As I said yesterday, Nanbu still got the building of his old gym. Gonna need some repairs, definitely, but we can do that. Couple of people that he knows have volunteered to help.” Joe took a sip of his tea and recoiled when it nearly burnt his tongue.

“And money is the issue, as you said yesterday.”

“Well,” Joe said carefully, “there’s my prize from the Megalonia Tournament, probably enough for renovation, but we need to think about the maintenance also. And then--” he stopped, seemingly thinking about it then shook his head. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” Yuri asked.

“No, never mind. The main thing is, what about you? You in or not? The offer still stands.”

“Yes,” Yuri said simply. The sheer joy evident on Joe’s face tugged his lips into a small smile. “I can help with both coaching and the financial situation.”

He reached to the small rectangular book with its long edge bound that was on the coffee table near the sofa and presented it to Joe. The younger man’s eyes widened as he received it, then he let out a sharp gasp when he opened it.

“This--”

“It’s yours. Keep it.”

Joe’s eyes were glued on the pages of the book, scanning the numbers, marvelling at the zeroes at the end. He probably never seen this amount of money before, probably never even seen or owned a bankbook being non-citizen for most of his life until his entry into the Megalonia Tournament.

“Yuri, why are you giving me this?” Joe finally closed the bankbook. “This is a lot! What about yourself?”

“I trust you. I trust the gym that you are building will worth something. I want to help you, Joe.”

No sound between them. Joe was thinking about it, Yuri could see it. He was calculating the cost of the renovations, how much he could do with the amount that Yuri just handed him. He was maybe thinking that he couldn’t accept it, thinking he didn’t want to be a charity case or thinking how he could pay Yuri back.

Yuri didn’t want any payment back. All he wanted was to see Joe growing, flourishing in the world of megalo boxing, whether as a fighter, a gym owner or a coach.

“Keep it,” he said firmly, not giving any room for rejection or argument. “You don’t want it for yourself, fine. But the kids who are with you and your coach--Nanbu, right?--could use the money.”

“Thank you.” Joe’s voice broke, wavering. He was trying to keep his emotions in check. Yuri guessed he was thinking of Sachio and his friends, orphaned street children stealing to live, their happiness illusions supplied by red pills that shatter once the effect was gone. Or he was thinking of that coach of his who gouged his own eyes so Joe could have the chance at winning the Megalonia. The medical bill for that injury, while not astronomical, still significant.

“It’s nothing.”

 

***

 

Joe build a new gym and then a new life. Yuri was included without a question, smoothly finding his place in the younger man’s new life. He somehow managed to convince the younger man to move out of Nanbu’s boat house and into Yuri’s home.

“I can’t leave him alone!” Joe had argued when Yuri first brought up the idea.

“So bring him with you. My house has more than enough rooms to accommodate all three of you,” Yuri had simply said.

“Wait, three?”

“You wouldn’t leave little Sachio alone, would you? He seemed quite attached to you.”

Joe looked at him with disbelieve, then looked like he would hug or kiss Yuri out of sheer joy. Yuri wouldn’t mind for that to happen, but it didn’t. What happened was Joe staring at him slack-jawed then blurted out, “okay, when can we begin?”

“As soon as you are ready.”

That was how Yuri’s house found another occupants beside a man and his dog, how it became a home for an old boxing coach, his star student and four street children.

(Sachio would only come under the condition that his three friends would not be left behind.)

  


***

 

The rebuilding of Nanbu’s gym went smoothly. In half a year the rundown building had been transformed into a functional training and coaching space. The leaking pipes and heating system were fixed. The lights replaced to give the place a better lighting (not that Nanbu could see it but others appreciated it). New equipments were bought and brought in to replace the old and broken ones. In another few months the gym was officially open.

Sachio had designed the poster advertising the gym. The boy had a knack for creative visual art that surprised everyone. Joe had taken Sachio’s work and described it excitedly to Nanbu with the creator himself flushing bright red from the praises.

They posted the flyers all over the city, glued them on the electric poles and the brick walls on the side of buildings, handed them to passerbys. Soon people began to trickle into the gym. They ranged from beginners with zero boxing experience to pro fighters looking to challenge the Megalonia champion. Having two top-ranked fighters in the gym drawed many curious people into the gym.

“I didn’t know that being a Megalonia champion was such a big deal,” Joe commented one day, after yet another megalo boxer appeared at the doorstep of Team Nowhere’s gym eager to meet him.

It was a bright Sunday morning when the weather wasn’t too hot but the sun still shined. Sachio and his friends were out in the backyard playing with Yuri’s dog. Nanbu was taking a nap in his bedroom. That left Joe and Yuri alone in the living room with the wide flat-screen TV on showing news that they paid only half attention to.

Yuri quirked an eyebrow. “Really? It was the most talked event in the entire city I heard.”

“Nobody really talked about it in the underground circuit.” Joe shrugged. There were talks about it, but everyone knew that it was a dream out of reach for them. They didn’t belong in that glimmering stage.

“And yet you still joined.”

“I wanted to meet you.” There was a slight blush on Joe’s tanned cheeks that did not escape Yuri’s notice.

The news had switched to an announcement of another upcoming Megalonia tournament. Both men’s attention turned to the television the moment they recognized Shirato Yukiko’s voice.

Shirato Yukiko was clad in her usual all white attire, standing on the podium with a headset around her head. She spoke about the Megalonia tournament, essentially a repeat of her speech last year, but this time she wasn’t alone. A tall young woman, stood a few steps behind Yukiko. She wore a strapless dress that showcased her broad shoulders and her muscular arms equipped with Shirato integrated Gear. Her long dark hair braided over one shoulder and the knee-length hem of her dress showed that one of her legs was a metal prosthetic, Shirato-made no doubt about it. Every so often a camera would snap pictures of her and she flashed a brilliant mega-watt smile that wouldn’t look out of place in a beauty queen pageant.

“She has found a new champion,” Yuri remarked. Part of him itched to fight this woman who replaced him, to see if she lived up to her status as Shirato’s champion. Another part of him was curious, who is she and how did Yukiko find her?

“She looks strong,” Joe said, glancing at Yuri from the corners of his eyes, but the silver-haired man kept his face neutral.

On TV, Yukiko beckoned for her new champion to come forward and the young woman complied ( _like an obedient lapdog,_ Yuri’s mind supplied, _like you used to do)_.

“Shirato’s awfully touchy with her. I don’t remember her ever being that open with you,” Joe said, eyes glued to the screen as Yukiko put her hands all over the other woman’s shoulders to show her integrated Gear but a closer look would reveal lingering touches. “Are they…”

“I suspect they are.”

“So were you and her--you know, like that?” Joe asked, turning his head toward the older man.

Yuri regarded him with an amused smile. “Why? Are you jealous?”

Joe spluttered. “Wh--What?! No! I’m just curious. I mean, you were very close with her and you were always by her side. People are naturally gonna assume things like that.”

“I assure you my previous owner has no such interest in me. Or in any man.”

“Oh. _Oh.”_

“Yes.”

“And are you--are you interested in her? In that way?”

“I have no such interest in her or in any other woman.”

“ _Oh._ Alright. I mean. Cool. That’s--great, I guess,” Joe stuttered.

His preferences were not something that Yuri often brought up to other people. It was his own bussiness, none of others. He watched as Joe pondered over the newfound situation with mild interest. What do people usually think when someone they knew came out to them?

“Excuse me but I need to go. Gotta take care of the gym’s anniversary celebration.” Joe stood up abruptly, face oddly red. And with that, he bolted out of the living room.

Well, that was not entirely unexpected, but Yuri was slightly disappointed, although he did not know what kind of reaction he was hoping for. Acceptance? Joy? Disgust? Nonchalant? Intrusive questions? Honestly, Yuri did not know, but he hoped that it wouldn’t change his relationship with Joe.

That was a naive thinking on his part. Something changed, but for better or for worse, again Yuri had no idea. For the next few days the younger man looked torn between clinging to him or avoiding him. Yuri let him do whatever he wanted while keeping a neutral facade, internally amused but choosing not to do anything different from the usual.

Joe liked him, Yuri was certain of that, but whether it is platonic or romantic in nature, the silver-haired man wasn’t sure. Yuri knew that he himself also cared for Joe, both romantically and platonically, and whichever of that attraction was reciprocated, he would be satisfied with it.

A relationship could be passionate without both parties fucking each other brains out, no?

  


***

 

The celebration was a modest one, a far cry from the usual extravagant parties and galas that Shirato Corporation hosted, but Yuri liked it more than the fancy events that he used to accompanied Yukiko to. It was warmer, more open, more intimate. Everyone was a family here, laughing and drinking merrily with each other under the open sky. He was suddenly reminded of his own family, far away in a small town in Russia, that he left when he pursued his dream of being a Megalo boxer. How many years had it been? Maybe a decade, no, definitely more than that. He was just a boy with dreams bigger than his fists could hold when he left.

“Hey.” A body plopped down on the ground next to his wheelchair. Yuri turned his head to the side. Joe sat cross-legged, Yuri’s Siberian Husky immediately approached the brown-haired man and nuzzled his stomach.

“Hello to you too,” Yuri said. “Nice view from here, isn’t it?”

The skyline of the city across the river sprawled in front them. The lights there bright, reflected on the surface of the river. The city was a metropolis that never slept, traffic never stopped but only slowed down. It was a place fueled by dreams and despair, welcoming those that could survive it and spitting out those who couldn’t. Yuri supposed that he was one of the lucky ones, who could spent a time in its glory before life gave him a knock-out punch and harshly shoved him out of the spotlight.

Joe hated and loved the city in equal measures. This city that rejected him but one that he also called home. This city that forced him to grow tough, to approach life with his fists raised and ready to strike. This city that allowed him to meet the important people in his life. It was beautiful and it was rotten.

“It’s boring,” Joe said. “Seen it many times. Always the same, nothing new.”

Yuri hummed, then his heart leapt when Joe scooted closer and without warning dropped his head onto the older man’s lap.

“I’m sorry for avoiding you these past few days,” Joe said, eyes downcast, refusing to meet Yuri’s.

“I understand that you need space,” Yuri said. His hand itched to card his fingers through the younger man’s curly locks but he forced his hand to remain on the armrest of his wheelchair.

“I--To be honest--” Joe’s voice stuttered. Deep breathing as the younger man trying to compose himself. Yuri could guess where this conversation his leading to but he kept silent, his face unchanged even when his heartbeat sped up.

“I love you,” Joe said quietly. “I admired you from the first moment that we met. I clawed my way up the Megalonia tournament just so I can fight you even though at the start it seems that you are unreachable. I want to fight you even if it was only once in my lifetime because you are the greatest opponent that I could ask for.”

Silence between them. The drunken laughter and chatter of the party behind them a background noise for this moment. In front of them the water lapped the harbour.

“I love you too,” Yuri said, faint as a whisper, and his hand lightly touched Joe’s hair. “Joe, look at me.”

At his words, Joe lifted up his head to look at Yuri in the eye.

“I can’t fight. My career as a boxer is over. Would you still have me like this?” Yuri asked.

“Yes,” Joe said, “I want you in my life.”

Yuri smiled. “Good.”

“The view is beautiful tonight,” Joe said and Yuri thought he had changed his opinion about the city skyline before realizing that he was looking at _Yuri._

“Indeed,” Yuri replied, not taking his eyes off the dark-haired man.

Behind them the party was getting louder, more people getting drunk and drunker. In the sky, the full moon rose.

 

***  


**Author's Note:**

> Rushed ending but it’s midnight and I’m T I R E D so pls let me live


End file.
